Wednesday, 3 December 2008

'November news media job losses top 900'

The number of jobs in the news media lost in November was more than 900, according to the latest estimate by Peter Kirwan, who writes a blog called Media Money on the Press Gazette website.He writes:"By my calculations, November brought 901 reported job losses in UK-based news media. The number of jobs lost was similar to July and September. Both were bad months. But what’s different about November is the sheer number of employers reportedly making redundancies. In July, there were 7. In September, there were 9. But during November, 14 separate organisations were cited in reports about redundancies by Press Gazette and elsewhere."The figures include redundancies in editorial, sales, admin and support services but do not include job cuts made at small publishing operations which are not reported. It is also difficult to estimate the number of unfilled posts.The NUJ estimated on Monday that more than 500 journalists posts in the regional press have been axed or left unfilled at local newspaper groups since since June. More than 30 local newspaper offices have been shut and 50-plus titles closed, the union says.MediaGuardian reports here today that all 235 journalists working on Newsquest's three Glasgow-based newspapers, The Herald, Evening Times, and Sunday Herald, have been given redundancy notices and invited to reapply for fewer jobs in a new multimedia editorial structure. Total staff numbers are estimated to be reduced by around 30 to 40 posts.

About Me

I am a freelance journalist based in the UK and was deputy editor of Press Gazette, the journalists' magazine, from 1993 until 2006. I want to give an independent view on media matters.
You can contact me with stories, ideas and comments by email at jon.slattery369@btinternet.com You can also follow me on Twitter @jonslattery